Tag Archives: smartphones

Cypress Semiconductor has announced it is sampling two low-power, dual-mode Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) MCUs that include support for Bluetooth mesh networking for the Internet of Things (IoT). The new CYW20819 and CYW20820 MCUs each provide simultaneous Bluetooth 5.0 audio and BLE connections.

The CYW20819 Bluetooth/BLE MCU has the ability to maintain Serial Port Profile (SPP) protocol connections and Bluetooth mesh connections simultaneously. The CYW20820 offers the same features and integrates a power amplifier (PA) with up to 10 dBm output power for long-range applications up to 400 m and whole-home coverage. This provides classic Bluetooth tablet and smartphone connections while enabling a low-power, standards-compliant mesh network for sensor-based smart home or enterprise applications.

Both MCUs embed the Arm Cortex-M4 core. It enables operation at 60% lower active power for connected 200-ms beacons compared to current solutions—delivering up to 123 days of battery life from a CR2032 coin cell battery. Previously, users needed to be in the immediate vicinity of a Bluetooth device to control it without an added hub. Using Bluetooth mesh networking technology, combined with the high-performance integrated PA in the CYW20820, the devices within a network can communicate with each other.

The IkaScope WS200 offers a 30 MHz bandwidth with its 200 Msamples/s sampling rate and maximum input of +/-40 Vpp. It provides galvanically-isolated measurements even when a USB connection is charging the internal battery. The IkaScope WS200 will work on desktop computers (Windows, Mac and Linux) as well as on mobile devices like tablets or smartphones. The free application software can be downloaded for whichever platform is needed.The IkaScope WS200 has no power switch. It detects pressure on the probe tip and turns on automatically. Patented ProbeClick technology saves battery life: all power-consuming circuitry is only turned on when the probe tip is pressed, and the IkaScope WS200 automatically shuts down completely after a short period of non-use. The internal 450 mAh battery lasts about one week with daily regular use before recharging is necessary. An isolated USB connection allows for recharging the internal battery: two LEDs in the unit indicate battery charge and Wi-Fi status.

Clicking the Autoset button on the IkaScope software automatically adjusts gain and time-base to quickly view the signal optimally. The IkaScope WS200 also knows when to measure and when to hold the signal display without the need for a Run/Stop button. The IkaScope’s innovative Automatic History feature saves a capture of the signal when releasing pressure on the ProbeClick tip. The History Database is divided into Current Session and Favorites, where signal captures are permanently saved, even after the application is closed. Previously measured signals can quickly be recalled.

Most desktop oscilloscopes have a static reference grid with a fixed number of divisions, but the IkaScope allows pinch and zoom on touch screens (or zoom in/out with a mouse wheel), stretching the grid and allowing an operator to move and zoom through a signal capture for detailed review. The associated software even has a share button on the screen: simply click on it to share screenshot measurements.

Renesas Electronics has announced three programmable power management ICs (PMICs) that offer high power efficiency and small footprint for application processors in smartphones and tablets: the ISL91302B, ISL91301A, and ISL91301B PMICs. The PMICs also deliver power to artificial intelligence (AI) processors, FPGAs and industrial microprocessors (MPUs). They are also well-suited for powering the supply rails in solid-state drives (SSDs), optical transceivers, and a wide range of consumer, industrial and networking devices. The ISL91302B dual/single output, multiphase PMIC provides up to 20 A of output current and 94 percent peak efficiency in a 70 mm2 solution size that is more than 40% smaller than competitive PMICs.In addition to the ISL91302B, Renesas’ ISL91301A triple output PMIC and ISL91301B quad output PMIC both deliver up to 16 A of output power with 94% peak efficiency. The new programmable PMICs leverage Renesas’ R5 Modulation Technology to provide fast single-cycle transient response, digitally tuned compensation, and ultra-high 6 MHz (max) switching frequency during load transients. These features make it easier for power supply designers to design boards with 2 mm x 2 mm, 1mm low profile inductors, small capacitors and only a few passive components.

Renesas PMICs also do not require external compensation components or external dividers to set operating conditions. Each PMIC dynamically changes the number of active phases for optimum efficiency at all output currents. Their low quiescent current, superior light load efficiency, regulation accuracy, and fast dynamic response significantly extend battery life for today’s feature-rich, power hungry devices.

Key Features of ISL91302B PMIC:

Available in three factory configurable options for one or two output rails:

Dual-phase (2 + 2) configuration supporting 10 A from each output

Triple-phase (3 + 1) configuration supporting 15 A from one output and 5A from the second output

Quad-phase (4 + 0) configuration supporting 20A from one output

Small solution size: 7 mm x 10 mm for 4-phase design

Input supply voltage range of 2.5 V to 5.5 V

I2C or SPI programmable Vout from 0.3 V to 2 V

R5 modulator architecture balances current loads with smooth phase adding and dropping for power efficiency optimization

Provides 75 μA quiescent current in discontinuous current mode (DCM)

Independent dynamic voltage scaling for each output

±0.7percent system accuracy for -10°C to 85°C with remote voltage sensing

±0.7percent system accuracy for -10°C to 85°C with remote voltage sensing

Soft-start and fault protection against UV, OV, OC, OT, and short circuit

Pricing and Availability

The ISL91302B dual/single output PMIC is available now in a 2.551 mm x 3.670 ball WLCSP package and is priced at $3.90 in 1k quantities. For more information on the ISL91302B, please visit: www.intersil.com/products/isl91302B.

The ISL91301A triple-output PMIC and ISL91301B quad-output PMIC are available now in 2.551 mm x 2.87 mm, 42-ball WLCSP packages, both priced at $3.12 in 1k quantities. For more information on the ISL91301A, please visit: www.intersil.com/products/isl91301A. For more information on the ISL91301B, please visit: www.intersil.com/products/isl91301B.

The types of displays available for embedded applications are as diverse as embedded applications themselves. Whether your requirement is for small, smart, rugged or rain-proof, there’s probably a display solution that suits your system design needs.

By Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

Long gone are the days when the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) market was filled with many semiconductor vendors jockeying for position. A combination of chip integration: graphics function moving inside microprocessors—and business consolidation: graphics chip vendors getting acquired, has narrowed the technology space down to mostly Intel, AMD and NVIDIA. And while these vendors tailor their products for high-volume markets, embedded applications must adapt those same GPUs to their needs.

With that in mind, makers of displays for embedded applications are constantly evolving their products to keep pace with the latest GPU technologies and both new and legacy display interface standards. Technologies range from small e-paper displays to rugged sunlight readable displays for the outdoors to complete Panel PC solutions that embed PC functionality as part of the display.

Mobile Dominates GPU Market

Although this article is focused on displays in embedded systems, it’s helpful to first understand the larger markets that are driving GPU technology. For its part, Jon Peddie Research (JPR), a market research and consulting firm focused on graphics and multimedia saw mobile devices as the dominate market when they did their annual review of GPU developments for 2017. In spite of the slow decline of the PC market overall, PC-based GPU sales (which include workstations) have been increasing, according to the review. In the mobile market, integrated GPUs have risen at the same rate as mobile devices and the SoCs in them. The same is true for the console market where integrated graphics are in every console and they too have increased in sales over the year.

Nearly 28% of the world’s population bought a GPU device in 2017, and that’s in addition to the systems already in use. And yet, probably less than half of them even know what the term GPU stands for, or what it does. To them the technology is invisible, and that means it’s working—they don’t have to know about it.

The market for, and use of, GPUs stretches from supercomputers and medical devices to gaming machines, mobile devices, automobiles and wearables. Just about everyone in the industrialized world has at least a half-dozen products with a GPU, and technophiles can easily count a dozen or more. The manufacturing of GPUs approaches science fiction with features that will move below 10 nm next year and have a glide-path to 3 nm—and some think even 1 nm.

Innovative Adaptations

Throughout 2017 JPR saw a few new, and some clever adaptations of GPUs that show the path for future developments and subsequent applications. 2017 was an amazing year for GPU development driven by games, eSports, AI, crypto currency mining and simulations. Autonomous vehicles started to become a reality, as did augmented reality. The over-hyped, consumer-based PC VR market explosion didn’t happen—and had little to no impact on GPU developments or sales. Most of the participants in VR already had a high-end system and the head-mounted display (HMD) was just another display to them.

Mobile GPUs, exemplified by products from Qualcomm, ARM and Imagination Technologies, are key to amazing devices with long battery life and screens at or approaching 4K. And in 2017 people started talking about and showing High dynamic range (HDR). JPR’s review says that many, if not all, the developments we will see in 2018 were started as early as 2015, and that three to four-year lead time will continue.

Lead times could get longer as semiconductor engineers learn how to deal with chips constructed with billions of transistors manufactured at feature sizes smaller than X-rays. Ironically, buying cycles are also accelerating ensuring strong competition as players try to leap-frog each other in innovation. According to JPR, we’ll see considerable innovation in 2018, with AI being the leading application that will permeate every sector of our lives. The JPR GPU Developments in 2017 Report is free to all subscribers of JPR. Individual copies of the report can be purchased for $100.

Photo 1.The Internet of Displays is a range of miniature displays that offer small color displays with integrated Wi-Fi and a microSD/HDC slot.

Internet of Displays

Focusing on the small side of the display spectrum, in November 4D Systems announced the latest addition to its Internet-of-Display module family with its smallest LCD display yet. At 0.9-inch and powered by the Wi-Fi enabled ESP8266, it is well suited for miniature IoT projects. The Internet of Displays is the company’s range of miniature feature rich displays that offer small color displays with integrated Wi-Fi and a microSD/HDC slot (Photo 1). …

Note: We’ve made the October 2017 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.

Wearable devices put extreme demands on the embedded electronics that make them work. Devices spanning across the consumer, fitness and medical markets all need a mix of low-power, low-cost and high-speed processing.

By Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

Designers of new wearable, connected devices are struggling to extend battery life for next-generation products, while at the same time increasing functionality and performance in smaller form factors. These devices include a variety of products such as smartwatches, physical activity monitors, heart rate monitors, smart headphones and more. The microcontrollers embedded in these devices must blend extreme low power with high integration. Meanwhile, analog and power solutions for wearables must likewise be highly integrated while serving up low quiescent currents.

Modern wearable electronic devices all share some common requirements. They have an extremely low budget for power consumption,. They tend not to be suited for replaceable batteries and therefore must be rechargeable. They also usually require some kind of wireless connectivity. To meet those needs chip vendors—primarily from the microcontroller and analog markets—keep advancing solutions that consume extremely low levels of power and manage that power. This technology vendors are tasked to keep up with a wearable device market that IDC forecasts will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4% in 2020.

MCU and BLE Combo

Following all those trends at once is Cypress Semiconductor’s PSoC 6 BLE. In September the company made its public release of the PSoC 6 BLE Pioneer Kit and PSoC Creator Integrated Design Environment (IDE) software version 4.2 that enable designers to begin developing with the PSoC 6. The PSoC 6 BLE is has built-in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless connectivity and integrated hardware-based security.

Photo 1The PSoC BLE Pioneer Kit features a PSoC 63 MCU with BLE connectivity. The kit enables development of modern touch and gesture-based interfaces that are robust and reliable with a linear slider, touch buttons and proximity sensors based using Cypress’ CapSense capacitive-sensing technology.

According to Cypress, the company had more than 2,500 embedded engineer customers registering for the PSoC 6 BLE early adopter program in just a few months. Early adopters are using the flexible dual-core architecture of PSoC 6, using the ARM Cortex-M4 core as a host processor and the Cortex-M0+ core to manage peripheral functions such as capacitive sensing, BLE connectivity and sensor aggregation. Early adopter applications include wearables, personal medical devices, wireless speakers and more. Designers are also using the built-in security features in PSoC 6 to help guard against unwanted access to data. …

Note: We’ve made the October 2017 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.

For embedded developers, it’s critical to understand the types of performance problems a typical end-user might encounter and the performance metrics relevant to user
interface (UI) design. Phil examines these and other important UI design challenges.

By Phil Brumby
Mentor, Embedded Systems Division

The widespread proliferation of portable media devices has changed the way we interact with each other on a daily basis. In fact, there is now a generation of users who grew up with some type of touchscreen device. These users no longer see the UI as new or revolutionary, but rather as a standard piece of mobile device functionality. This phenomenon has created a new set of expectations. It means any device with an LCD must offer a fluid and intuitive user experience. It’s also expected that the touchscreen has to be “smartphone-like” whenever the device is powered on. Embedded system developers are now under pressure across multiple markets and device types to replicate the smartphone UI interactive experience.

The importance of getting the UI right is absolutely critical to the success of the device. Underpinning documented UI design methodologies is a need for the device to operate in a way that it will not impinge or be detrimental to the user experience. For developers, it’s necessary to understand the types of performance problems a typical end-user might encounter, and through an understanding of performance metrics employ various analyses to highlight the bottlenecks and performance degradation issues.

A key advantage to system start-up isanalyzing selected input events.

TYPICAL PERFORMANCE ISSUES

To understand how to best analyze performance, it’s important to look at typical performance issues from the end-user’s perspective. In identifying these issues, developers can begin to identify the first data points or metrics needed for feedback on system performance.

Responsiveness: Responsiveness can be thought of as the time it takes for the user to receive feedback from the UI as a result of an input action made. Typically, this consists of a touchscreen input, but also includes hard key presses. Responsiveness is important as the user must feel the device performs within a certain timeframe to avoid the feeling a UI is “laggy” or slow to respond. Delays in updating the UI in response to input can result in frustration and mistakes made by the user.

Animation smoothness: Animation smoothness relates to the visible motion or change in appearance of elements displayed within the UI. As an element transitions from one point in 3D space to another, does it do so in a smooth manner that is pleasing to the eye? Animation smoothness is important because if the user perceives jagged or staggered motion in a transition, it will degrade the overall interactive experience. …

Note: We’ve made the October 2017 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.